Big pharma AstraZeneca (AZN) and big biotech Amgen (AMGN) were both down nearly 3% in heavy trading Tuesday, after Amgen said late Friday that it was withdrawing from their partnership to develop an immunology drug after some patients killed themselves. Amgen said that “suicidal ideation and behavior” in some patients in the clinical trials of brodalumab, which is being tested for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis, would
Small biotech and year-old new issue Alder BioPharmaceuticals (ALDR) soared more than 12% to a new high near 40 on Friday after it presented positive clinical-trial data on its migraine drug candidate, presenting a challenge to such larger players as Amgen (AMGN), Eli Lilly (LLY) and Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA). Alder said that a single intravenous injection of its drug candidate ALD403 was still working in patients six months later, with 61%
The doctor prescribed first-quarter earnings for a trio of medical-related companies — two performed strongly, the other one’s examination disappointed analysts. Amgen (AMGN)earned $2.48 a share in Q1, up 33% from a year earlier, and crushing by 38 cents the estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. It was the best gain in 11 quarters. Amgen revenue rose 11.3% to $5.03 billion, beating views of $4.91 billion. Among key drugs: Prolia, which